PEDRO PASCUAL
BENASQUE CENTER FOR SCIENCE

P-adic Analysis, Periods and Physics

2007, July 8 -- July 20

There are two communities that think they own periods. These are physicists, largely string theorists, and arithmetic/algebraic geometers. String theorists view the world as comprising four familiar dimensions and six others that correspond to a compact manifold. Much interest devolves on the effective four-dimensional theory that results in the limit that the compact dimensions are taken to be small. Many of the quantities of interest in the effective theory are computed in terms of the periods of the compact manifold and it is in this way that the memory of the compact manifold survives into the effective theory. Arithmetic/algebraic geometers, by contrast, know that the periods encode important arithmetic information about a manifold and especially how this information varies with the parameters.

This workshop seeks to explore possible common interests between these two communities. The first week of the workshop overlaps with the Strings 007 meeting in Benasque and it is hoped that there will be an emphasis on the interface between physics and arithmetic during this period. The second week will be given a more arithmetical weight.

Participants are expected to arrive on July 8 and leave on July 20.
Free buses will depart from Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 647 (metro: Palau Reial, green line) at 15.00h with a stop at the airport bays between terminal A and B at 15.30h on Barcelona-Benasque, July 8.
Return buses from Benasque to Barcelona airport will depart at 9.00h on Benasque-Barcelona, July 20. The trip by bus takes 6h. The trip by car only takes 3.5h.

This session has received financial support from the following institutions:
BBVA, Ayuntamiento de Benasque, Universitat de Barcelona and Universidad de Zaragoza.

• List of participants.